Parlevliet & Van der Plas acquires Deutsche See

Parlevliet and Van de Plas (P&P) has acquired retail and foodservice supplier Deutsche See GmbH, in a deal involving two major European seafood firms.

P&P, based in Katwijk, The Netherlands, had EUR 850 million (USD 1.1 billion) in sales in 2016, while Bremerhaven, Germany-headquartered Deutsche See has around EUR 400 million (USD 494 million) in annual sales. Terms of the deal were not announced.

The reason for the sale was the serious illness of Egbert Miebach, one of the co-owners of Deutsche See, last year.

“This was a really difficult step for us to take, but owing to Egbert’s tragic personal and family circumstances, it is unavoidable,” fellow Deutsche See co-owner Peter Dill said in a press release. “It was particularly important for [us] to find a buyer and partner who will continue to manage Deutsche See as an independent entity and successful business as before.”

The two companies have long had close ties, as P&P operates several facilities in Bremerhaven and has been “an extremely reliable and important supplier and partner for Deutsche See for decades,” according to the firm.

The acquisition creates a vertically integrated operation that will streamline operations and increase quality and efficiency, P&P said in its release.

”The P&P and Deutsche See businesses are now vertically connected with each other all the way from catching fish to the plate. As a result, Deutsche See will be able to offer more fish from the German P&P fleet in [the] future, and this with the usual top quality,” the company said.

The transaction is subject to scrutiny from regulatory authorities, but pending that approval, P&P co-owner Dirk-Jan Parlevliet will join the management of Deutsche See in March 2018. The previous management of the company will remain in place, Dirk-Jan Parlevliet confirmed, with Ulrich Grewe remaining as managing director of production and technology. Dill will be aiding the process of integration in the transitional period, the company added.

“No changes are planned to Deutsche See’s successful business model or to the company's locations,” P&P said in its announcement.

“Never change a winning team,” Dirk-Jan Parlevliet said. “We have a lot of plans. The acquisition of the German fresh fish and seafood specialist and market leader opens up the possibility for us to enter new and strategically important markets of the future in Germany. I’ll be using my experience gained in the procurement and production markets to continue to lead the fundamentally healthy Deutsche See business into a successful future.”